Well, folks, we've come to that special time in the midst of the cold, dark season...when I aim to lighten the Winter mood by putting together the Summer agenda for our merry little band of wanderers. (Except that Mother Nature has been having, I don't know, hot flashes or something, causing February temps in the 70s, along with a delightful bombardment of pollen, from all the confused plant life blooming so early. But yeah, VACATION PLAN, WHOO HOO!)
So you might recall that on our drive back from Maryland over the December holidays, I queried the car full of males for help in choosing this year's destination. The very first reaction, predictably and inevitably, was a gleeful shout of "Cleveland!"...which has been Husband's standard response to ANY geographical question, for all of the 23 years I've known him. (To this day, I still Don't. Know. Why. But I've become quite adept at ignoring it, and moving on...) The rest of the vehicle's occupants--otherwise known as "the sons"--remained mute...aside from some incoherent mumbling...as they either tried to figure out a viable suggestion...or a way to avoid the question altogether. (Yeeeahhh, probably that LAST one...)
Waking up and remembering who I was working with, I helpfully jumped into the silence to remind them that it's our "domestic trip" year...which still got me nothing useful out of them. So I gave up and just started tossing out options, figuring I'd keep going until they indicated that they approved of one. I honestly didn't have to come up with too many choices, though, because all 3 of them stopped me at "Colorado", and expressed their enthusiasm at the notion of paying a visit to the wild, wild West...or what have you.
Now, Husband and I have been to the lovely Centennial State on several occasions...but not for a looooong time...and the kids never have, so it's pretty exciting for all of us. And then, because it'll be a relatively short--and close...ish--excursion, I mentioned that we could possibly do another little jaunt, like a 4-day-weekend road trip, perhaps. "Where might you like to go for that?" I asked. The answer came almost instantaneously from the back seat, where both of the kids simultaneously yelled, "Atlanta!" Alrighty, then...I think we've found our 2 winners! (With a minimum of threats, pulling teeth, and/or chucking things at them to force their cooperation--yay!)
With that decided, now all that was left was...oh, right, "the hard part". That would be me, acting as our Travel Agent, tidying up all of the logistical details to make the dreams a reality, as it were. I began with our southern neighbor, since the only moving parts that had to be nailed down ahead of time were a place to sleep...and baseball tickets (natch....). Although Derek had also decreed that he wanted to stay "in the exact same hotel we did last time" because "I fear change" (which is a load of hooey, by the way, but he enjoys being faux dramatic from time to time, since it cracks him up. Gooberhead...), I had to reject that particular institution, because the quoted price at the time we wanted to go was outrageously beyond my comfort level. I did manage to find something reasonable, about a mile away, so we're gonna call that a Win, and the teenager can get over it. A quick selection of seats at SunTrust Park for the Braves vs...the ORIOLES...and the advance booking for Hot-lanta was D-O-N-E.
Then I tackled Colorado--or at least the parts we intended to visit. We'd be flying into Denver, so I needed to find us lodging...to which I quickly added, once I started searching, "that doesn't cost an arm, leg, or any other body part". Easier said than done, as it turn out, partially because we are, at this point, 4 full-sized humans who need adequate bed space to get a good night's rest. (One side note: this was the very first time I'd ever had to enter "3 adults" into a search engine, because we'll be traveling after Derek's 18th birthday...which caused me a moment of shock...and then a sniffle...)
Once I'd successfully handled that particular puzzle--and obtained our tickets to the Rockies game (Seriously, is anyone surprised? Didn't think so...)--I turned my attention to the other city we'd be exploring: Boulder. You see, we knew we wanted to tour Rocky Mountain National Park, and Boulder happens to be smack dab between it and the capital, so it seemed to be a logical place to spend the middle days of our adventure. Besides, Boulder looks like a hip, happening town, with lots of stuff to do and see, so why not, right?
Umm...did I also forget to mention "popular"? Oh, and its less-desirable cousin, "pricey"? Researching hotels in the entire surrounding area quickly gave me a case of sticker-shock...so in desperation, I tried an alternative method, with which I admit that I have less experience, and more trepidation: the home sharing/rental industry. I went in gingerly, but I was reassured by the fact that I encountered what appeared to be clean, well-maintained, lovely houses/apartments/condos and the like--nothing sketchy, or scary, or seedy. After wading through a boatload of properties until my head was swimming with information (Okay, I promise I'm done with the water metaphor--I'm not really sure where that came from, anyway...sorry?), I FINALLY mustered my courage and just picked one, already.
And in as clear a case of "OMG, are you KIDDING me with this" as I've ever run into, the owner promptly emailed to let me know that she had 1) grown up in Maryland and 2) attended UNC. Holy "It's a Small World" Batman, that's crazy stuff! (And now you've probably got that infernal Disney ditty stuck in your head, as I do. And I'm totally not apologizing for that, because misery loves company...)
So I'm going to interpret this as a sign that the Travel Gods have put their preliminary Stamp of Approval on our Summer of 2018 itinerary so far. To continue to court their favor, I'll be sure to make regular sacrifices between now and when we depart. Hmmm....an offering of peaches for Atlanta is a given, yeah? And...maybe raise a few glasses of Coors for our friends to the west? (As long as it's more of a "symbolic gesture", and I don't have to actually, you know, DRINK it, I can certainly do that!) Now I just have to commune with the sometimes temperamental spirits of "airline travel" and "rental cars", and we'll be all set! Wish me luck...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment